A unexpectedly amazing start to 2020 - honored by the Sacramento Association of Realtors as the "Realtor of the Year"

I was really excited for the 2020 Sacramento Association of Realtors Officers and Directors Installation event this year, because after serving 8 years on the Board of Directors, this year I stepped up to serve the association at a higher level as Secretary/Treasurer of the Board. What I was not expecting was to be the recipient of the 2019 "REALTOR of the Year" award.

This is the highest honor given by the association. An Awards Committee selects the recipient and the criteria is quite rigorous -- things like sustained participation as an association volunteer, effective leadership and an ability to generate participation by others in association activities, charitable and public service outside the association, etc. The association gives this to one person each year. As of December, the Sacramento Association of Realtors had over 7,500 members. And this year I was given the award.

I was shocked and humbled to say the very least. And so thankful that my brother and his soon-to-be wife were in attendance at the installation event.

It feels a little strange to get an award for efforts I find so personally gratifying in so many ways. I initially got involved with the association in 2008, a few years after getting my real estate license in 2005. Since then, I have done a long list of things such as serve on or chaired committees, forums, task forces, was President of the Masters Club, and helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the community. I truly love our great organization and my fellow association members who all advocate for the same causes and volunteer to make our Sacramento community a better place. Walking into any committee meeting, event, or forum, I’m surrounded by friends and I’m forever grateful for that.

On a personal level, my 2019 was a pretty emotionally trying year with the loss of my mom to lung cancer in the spring. For 2020 I had been hoping to be able to have an emotional reset of sorts, and to kick things off in this way was an unexpectedly amazing start to the year.